Bendigo Street Milk Bar’s got Milk (and Brunch, Lollies and Pastries)

For all those jaded city slickers out there, Bendigo Street Milk Bar in the Richmond/Burnley precinct is the answer. Offering the perfect antidote to the impersonal, generic coffee spots that seem to keep springing up, stepping into this local cafe is like coming home to a larder always stocked with fresh produce, a warm smile and a quiet spot to sit back and unwind.

The breakfast and lunch menus are full of hearty savoury dishes, but it is the huge range of tasty pastries and cakes, milkshakes and counter-top sweets jars that appeal to the inner child within us all. And yet somehow, despite being such a cute little gem, this place seems relatively undiscovered – hidden away up a street leading off Swan Street. We guess all this will change, however, as soon as the apartments in the renovated GTV 9 studios opposite are sold.

Having spent a large chunk of my childhood on the Gold Coast, and before that in Sydney, I know a few things about milk bars and, while they were always an important part the local community (and the best place to spend one’s hard-earned pocket money) none of them were as charming as this creation from owners Di and Mario Di Stefano.

The main dining area channels a sense of retro cool with its old-school carpet, magazines sitting on a piece of string along the white panel wall, and mismatched chunky cushions. The side room, filled by a huge dining table, has packets of seeds for sale – could this place feel any more like you have walked into a food and garden enthusiasts house?! Possibly, as you head through to the slightly more modern courtyard – with funky green chairs and heaps of leafy shade.

Monte coffee quickly followed by an ice-cold metal flask of chocolate milkshake got things off to a great start, although the chai was a real disappointment. Word Monkey seems to inhale vats of the stuff lately and considers herself something of an aficionado. Too sickly and sweet, she reckons this was a powdered instant chai that might even have had sugar added to it. Either way, when most places are making their own whole spice versions or serving Prana Chai, it is time to wave goodbye to the tinned stuff.

Onto the food and the steak sandwich was definitely the real deal. Not skimping on the steak – it was served rare, the rocket was fresh and the chips were spot on.

Avocado salsa (lovely chunks of fresh tomato) with heaps of Yarra Valley Persian feta, rocket and a couple of poached eggs came on sourdough toast – delicious – although perhaps the bread could have been sourced from a local bakery as opposed to the bags of Schwob’s that were for sale in the dining room. Not really a major grumble. Overall, the laid-back ambiance and unpretentious staff do such a good job of making this place feel like a real home from home, it’s hard not to love it.

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“THERE’S an award-winning blog in Melbourne that does an impressive job of keeping everyone up to speed on just about every opening in the city, from food truck to grand diner.
The blog has a Twitter account where you can get a running feed on all sorts of stuff to do with food and beverage culture in the city on the Yarra.
The team behind the brand – for that is what it is, a brand – are social media masters. I dips me lid. They have presences on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram as well.”
- John Lethlean, National restaurant reviewer for The Australian and The Weekend Australian Magazine.
Welcome, and thanks for visiting Sharking for Chips and Drinks. We are a food and travel writer-photographer team, originally from London, now based in Melbourne.
We both have day jobs, but when we aren’t committed to the 9 till 5 grind we regularly contribute to a number of food and travel publications and websites in Australia and overseas, including:
Beer and Brewer magazine and The Ultimate Beer Guide
Melbourne Coffee Review handbook, website and iPhone app
Food and Drink guides covering London, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire
Elite Traveler magazine (US and Asia market luxury travel)
Gap Daemon website (international backpacker travel)
Currently we have a number of commissions in the pipeline. We have been featured in The Age’s Epicure supplement several times, most notably within a cover story focusing on Melbourne’s lunchtime dining scene. See for yourself here. After a very successful 2012, we started this year on a high when it was announced we had won the Expedia Blogger of the Year Competition – this means we have even more exciting adventures coming up in the next few months.
While we are currently living in Melbourne, we regularly return to our beloved London and have a very global view – this year will see us head to Italy, Japan and Korea in search of gourmet gems.